Belarus's Expanding Role in Medical and Health Tourism: Challenges and Opportunities

Belarus has established itself as a significant healthcare destination, attracting international patients from a wide array of countries seeking both medical treatment and wellness tourism experiences. The nation's commitment to developing its tourism potential is underscored by its inclusion as one of seven priorities within the Socio-Economic Development Programme for 2026–2030. This strategic focus is well-founded, given the substantial growth observed in the sector between 2021 and 2024, during which the count of organized foreign tourists and excursionists visiting Belarus surged from 71,400 to nearly 367,000 individuals. This expansion highlights that tourism extends beyond historical and cultural site visits, encompassing vital areas like health tourism and medical tourism.

Economic Significance and Growth

Tourism contributes substantially to Belarus's national economy. The sector's peak contribution to GDP was 2.5 percent in 2018. Looking ahead, the Tourism state programme for 2026–2030 sets an ambitious target of increasing the industry's economic impact to 4.5 percent of GDP by 2030.

An important aspect of this growth is the composition of the tourist flow. Inbound tourism represented a notable 21.4 percent of the total, indicating its considerable weight. In 2024 alone, over 6.6 million trips were recorded. Minsk leads in organized inbound tourism, drawing more than 50 percent of all organized international visitors. This illustrates a disparity in regional tourist service utilization, with Brest, Grodno, Gomel, and Vitebsk following Minsk in attracting visitors.

Regional Dynamics in Health and Wellness Tourism

Despite Minsk's dominance in overall inbound tourism, the regions of Belarus are particularly appealing for their health and wellness services, alongside their rich historical, cultural, and agro-ecological assets. Future expansion of the medical and wellness segment holds strong potential to significantly boost patient travel to these regional areas.

Supporting this growth, Belarusian financial institutions have introduced credit products specifically designed to bolster the tourism sector. The Development Bank, for instance, launched its Tourist Potential credit product, which provides funding for investment projects focused on constructing and modernizing sanatoriums, health resorts, hotels, campsites, and other related facilities. Another credit offering primarily targets small and medium-sized businesses, enabling them to secure financing for ventures in hospitality, healthcare (including medical centers and sanatorium-resort organizations offering medical services), sports, entertainment, recreation, and passenger transport.

Indeed, the contribution of sanatorium and health resort services to Belarus’s exports is quite substantial, accounting for over 30 percent of all tourist services.

Sanatorium and Health Resort Sector Performance

According to data from the Republican Centre for Health Improvement and Sanatorium-Resort Treatment of the Population (RCHI), the number of individuals receiving health treatment in Belarus in 2024 surpassed 1.5 million. Of these, 247,000 were international patients, underscoring Belarus's appeal as a cross-border healthcare destination.

The increase in patient travel has directly translated into higher revenues for Belarusian health resorts. In 2024, revenues reached Br1.63bn, marking an increase of over 21 percent compared to the previous year. Over 95 percent of foreign citizens who select Belarusian sanatoriums originate from the Russian Federation, a trend influenced by prevailing sanctions affecting the industry. In total, individuals from 105 countries worldwide seek health improvement in Belarus.

Medical Services Export: High-Quality and Unique Offerings

Focusing specifically on medical services provided to international patients at the country’s healthcare institutions, the Healthcare Ministry reported that in 2025, the number of such medical tourists exceeded 160,000. These patients traveled to Belarus from 158 different countries, with citizens of the CIS comprising more than 60 percent of this total.

Between 2020 and 2025, the export of medical services saw a remarkable 1.6-fold increase, reaching $51.8m. Minsk remains the leading region in terms of medical services export volume. Ivan Yarivanovich stated that "truly unique surgeries are performed in Minsk." He added, "The fact that people come to Belarus means that we have highly qualified doctors, unique surgeries, while the price corresponds to the quality of the service. We also have the appropriate technologies and domestic developments that allow us to perform such top-notch surgical interventions." This highlights Belarus's commitment to quality of care and advanced medical capabilities.

Overcoming Barriers to Further Export Growth

To further enhance the export performance of both health resort and medical services, several systemic issues require attention. Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor Yelena Milashevich, Head of Social and Consumer Services Sector of Service Economy Department at the Institute of Economics under Belarus’ National Academy of Sciences, discussed these challenges.

Data Collection and Tracking

Currently, a robust system for accurately recording foreign patients is lacking. While incoming tourists are registered with or without visas, there is no mechanism to ascertain if their visit is for treatment, which specific medical facility they are attending, or their medical specialization. This absence of granular data impedes the formulation of effective strategies to promote health and medical tourism exports.

International Accreditation

The absence of international accreditation for Belarusian medical organizations also represents a significant impediment to the development of specialized patient travel. Adopting one of the globally recognized healthcare accreditation systems would not only bolster the country's reputation on the international stage but also serve as a powerful magnet for attracting additional international patients.

Unified Information Platform

Another significant barrier is the lack of a centralized search system for treatment and rehabilitation options across Belarus. Developing a single national website that comprehensively lists all organizations providing healthcare services to foreign patients, akin to well-known international travel aggregators, is essential for improving patient access and transparency.

Language and Marketing Expertise

The language barrier remains a critical inhibiting factor for international patients, as does a shortage of specialists in medical tourism marketing. Few medical professionals, and even fewer administrative staff in registration offices (whose contact numbers are often listed on specialized research and practical centers, hospitals, and clinics), possess proficiency in foreign languages. Foreigners frequently encounter communication difficulties and are often directed to read the English version of a website, which may not resolve direct interaction needs.

Telemedicine Integration

A promising avenue for export growth involves the more active integration of information and communication technologies, particularly the development of a telemedicine consultation system for international patients. Leveraging Belarus's highly qualified doctors through such a practice could transform online patient interactions into eventual offline visits, expanding the reach of Belarusian healthcare.

Bottom Line

The national healthcare system holds substantial potential to become a primary growth driver for the Belarusian economy and its export capabilities. Realizing a high-quality, advanced export product in medical tourism necessitates a synergistic approach, combining the efforts of several key sectors:

1. Production Sector: Manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.
2. Agriculture: Producers of ecologically clean food products, complementing wellness offerings.
3. Construction: Development of new, modern medical centers and infrastructure.
4. Science: Research and development of novel medicines and treatment protocols.
5. Information and Communication Technologies: Modern communication systems, advanced medical information systems, and efficient data transmission and processing capabilities.